Government, private sector unite as Tanzania gears up for universal health insurance
What you need to know:
- Under the strategy, public and private health insurance companies are currently going to each and every health facility, including those at grassroots, to sign contracts on service delivery.
Dar es Salaam. The government and members of the private sector are strategizing on ways to implement the Universal Health Insurance (UHI) law.
Under the strategy, public and private health insurance companies are currently going to each and every health facility, including those at grassroots, to sign contracts on service delivery.
Those who spoke during a recent insurance forum said health insurance firms are also leveraging technology to reach a larger population.
On the government side, the focus now is on preparing a package that will enable healthcare providers to serve citizens, including those with low income, ensuring they receive quality healthcare services.
The package will apply to both public and private hospitals that offer insurance services.
Speaking during the recent forum held at the launch of the 2023 Insurance Market Performance Report organized by the Tanzania Insurance Regulatory Authority (Tira), key industry players said the joint public-private partnership on the UHI was all out to ensure that the law gets fully implemented and that nobody is left out.
President Samia Suluhu Hassan endorsed the UHI Act last year after the government unveiled its potential sources of money to finance health insurance for poor Tanzanians.
Speaking at the forum, Jubilee Health Insurance chief executive officer Dr Harold Adamson expressed gratitude to the government for involving the private sector at every stage of preparing UHI, the collaboration allowed the private sector to prepare for the upcoming changes.
Dr Adamson noted that since 2022, they have observed the government’s strong commitment to developing UHI.
Consequently, stakeholders in the sector convened to discuss the best approaches, including visiting grassroots health centers to create awareness and establish contracts with them.
“The private sector, which provides health insurance services, agreed to expand the scope of service delivery. We looked at government health centers in rural areas and began signing various contracts with them. Once the services officially start, they will all be aligned,” he said.
Currently, they have registered over 1,000 agent health centers at grassroots levels to facilitate member registration and ensure they have a conducive environment for reporting when they meet clients.
The chairman for the Association of Private Health Facilities in Tanzania (APHFTA) Dr Egina Makwabe said that service providers were working closely with the government to a large extent in forming regulations.
He said they were committed to participating at all stages to safeguard the interests of the private sector in the UHI initiative.
“Fortunately, during the preparations to establish regulations, the NHIF will be regulated under Tira, which is a positive development…This will help eliminate issues of fraud and support the implementation of UHI,” he said.
Members of the private sector, he said, will fully cooperate to ensure the health of Tanzanians was safeguarded.
The Assistant Director of Monitoring and Evaluation from the Ministry of Health, Mr Tumainieli Macha, said the government was in the process of preparing packages to be used in UHI.
According to him, the law requires all citizens to enroll in health insurance. Acknowledging that some Tanzanians cannot afford to purchase insurance, the government has decided to allocate funds from specific sources to cover those in that category.
“While preparing the UHI law, we created a platform for stakeholders to participate and made it easier for health facilities to provide quality services to achieve the intended goal.”
“To ensure the success of this process, the government has eased regulations for private service providers. We have also made significant investments, with the remaining component being the high cost of medical care, which is why we are preparing a package that everyone can afford,” he stated.
The National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) director general, Dr Irene Isaka, said at the forum that the fund was now prepared to provide services to all Tanzanians following the enactment of the law.
She noted that NHIF began engaging stakeholders starting last month (October) and that plans were to reach all key stakeholders by January 2025.
Additionally, NHIF has embraced registration systems that allow people to register even in rural areas without needing a smartphone. Regarding claims processing, explained that this area previously faced challenges as it was conducted outside the system now everything is under systems.
Currently, NHIF deals with 10,400 health centers, and out of 7000 are connected to the system, and are submitting claims directly. To reach citizens, NHIF is working closely with the President’s Office, Regional Administration, and Local Government.
For low-income groups, the fund is targeting around 3 million families but will initially start with 1.5 million households listed in the Tasaf database.
“To reach people, we will use agencies, telecom companies, and agents, as the fund cannot establish offices in every region. The goal is to encourage people to join the system,” she said.
On the other hand, the President’s Office - Regional Administration and Local Government Deputy Permanent Secretary (Health), Dr Grace Magembe, noted that 77 percent of citizens access services at primary healthcare facilities, which are already registered.
She emphasized that RALG plays a significant role in implementing UHI, as it directly engages with citizens.
Dr Magembe explained that UHI involves three key components: ensuring that individuals can access services, providing financial risk protection to prevent people from selling assets to afford healthcare and maintaining the quality of services provided to citizens.
“We have prepared for UHI implementation in various ways, including improving infrastructure. Over the past four years, we have increased coverage of healthcare facilities. Currently, 70 percent of Tanzanians can access healthcare facilities within five kilometres,” she said.
